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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0. D. LA 130w. TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTER.

No. 416,732. Patented Dec. 10, 1889.

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" ('No Model.) 2'Sheets-Sheef 2.

, 0.1 LA DOW. TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTER.

N0. 416,'732. Patentgd Dec. 10, 1889 W. in Q $541k aHo cmgo UNITED STATE PATENT QFFI ORVILLE 1 LA'now ,oF MECHANIOSVILLE, NEW vomnAssrenon or ONE- HALF TO EREDERICK T. COLUMBIA.

TELEG RAP H -T RANSMITT'ER.

BICKFORD, OF WASHINGTON, nrs'rnror oF srncrrrcArion forming part of Letters rat-en; No. 416,732, dated December 10, 1889. Y

Application filed April 2, 1889. Serial No. 305,731- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ORVILLE D LA DOW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mechanicsville, in the county of Saratoga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Telegraph-Transmit ters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to telegraph-transmitters, and more particularly to that general class of transmitters in which a'single movement of the operator-as, for instance, the

depression of a single key. or leverwill automatically cause any desired number of variations .or impulses of the electric current to be transmitted by means of a suitable conductor to the receiving-instrument and there record or produce the same; and it has forits object to produce a simple,cheap, and effective mechanism, whereby these objects may be attained; and to these ends my invention consists in an apparatus constructed and operating substantially as hereinafter more spe- I cifically set forth.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front view of one embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one key-le ver, showing a slightly diiferent arrangement of parts. Fig. 4 is a detail showing one of the. sectors of the machine, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the preferred construction of the sector. l

It is well known that the constant use of the ordinary Morse key by telegraph-operators, in which a greater or less number of movements are necessary to produce each letter, character, or other signal, is not only extremely fa tiguing and exhausting work, but that the long-continued practice often produces serious physical results. It has also long been recognized as desirable among those skilled in the art that the operations of transmitting a message by the usual Morse or other code should be simplified, so that the labor and strain upon the operator would be greatly reduced, while at the same time preserving by mechanical means his skill in uniformlyand accurately transmitting the respective sig-' mils, and many devices have been suggested It has further not only greatly lessened the-labor of the re ceiving-operator, but has largely increased his ability to record as well, it is clear that i l the capacity of the receiving end of a tele graphic circuit is by this means largely in excess of that at the sending or transmitting end, where physical means alone are curployed, and hence that the full capacity'of such a telegraphic circuit can only be developed by supplanting physical means with mechanical means at the transmitting end also. i My present invention is designed to overcome all these objections 'and meet these. wants, and to furnish a simple, cheap, and ef{ fective apparatus that can be used not only i to take the place of the ordinary transmitting-key in the-hands of the skillful operator and relieve him to a great extent of the strain and labor of sending the proper signals or producing the necessary variations in the electric current to cause said, signals to be sent, but can as well be used by the unskilled 0perator, enabling him to transmit perfect signals and to duplicate the work of those more skilled, g 9 One of the first essentials to such an i nstrument is to provide means whereby the ope'r- Q ator by a single movement will insure the sending of each and every following signal desired at the same rate of speed, regardless of the variations in his work. In order to accomplish this I havearranged a'series of keys and key-levers, each one of which is designed to represent some particular character or symbol, which, on being actuated by the operator, shall set in motion automatic mechanism to transmit the particular signal desired; and in order that these varying signals may be properly reproducedl provide a constant force or motor, which, in combination with other devices, shall automatically operate to produce the variations in the current and the impulse or combination of impulses corresponding to the particular key and represented thereby independent of the operator himself.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated one simple embodiment of my invention, A represents a suitable frame-work mounted upon supports or standards B and provided with a series of key-levers 0, having keys 0, which may be arranged in any particular order or styledesired, but in the present instancev are shown arranged as is usual in the ordinary'typ'e writers, being pivoted at c and held in their normal position by a spring 0' and arranged in a; series of banks or rows for convenience of fingering, as indicated in the drawings. Connected to each of the key-levers O is a sector D, which in Fig. 2 isshown as pivoted to a strap E,.passing: around the key-lever and freely suspended therefrom. Mounted upon; the frame in. su-itablecrossfbars F G are a series of guide-pins f, extending betweenthe various sectors for the purpose of preventing them interfering with each: other in their movements. In place of this arrangement,.,however,. the key-levers may be mortised, as shown in Fig. 3, and the sector D may extend through themortiseand" be piv' oted; therein-;: and it isevident that other arrangements ofthe; sectors and levers-may be; made by one skilled in the art which will: accomplishsubstantially the same result.

Alsomounted in the frame A or suspended:

from: arms projecting therefrom: is a nonconducting; roller H,.wl1ichis connected to and driven by some suitable power, as a mo,-. tor I; which is provided with the-usual regu- 1ators,:so that theroller II will be given a con stant and uniform speed in the same directiOIlsy This roller may be faced with rubber,. cloth,.or any other suitable frictional surface which; will insure its operation when in engagement-with the sectors, as hereinafter describeda. Also mounted in the frame, or in extensions thereof, is a. bar or plate K or a metal comb having an individual tooth or other springeconductor for each sector, which is arranged to-extendin juxtaposition to'the roller H and along its periphery, but not in contact therewith, and this bar, plate, orcomb K is connectedto one of the terminals'of the electric circuit by meansof a binding-screw or otherwise. Each of the sectors D is also connected in the electric circuit by any wellknown means, either by a separate terminal toeachl'ever or sector, as shown in Fig. 2, or through some portion of theframe common toalLof. the levers-as, for instance, the fulcrum-point c. The sectors are preferably made of conducting material, and are provided at their segmental surfaceswith insulating-blocks (Z, arranged inproper relations to each other to leave certain portions of the surface of the sector exposed to correspond to each and every character or signal to be transmitted. Each sector is also provided with another insulating-piece of material, as d, which occupies the same relative position in all of-the sectors, and that is preferably a position directly over the roller, comb, or cylinder I-I.

While it is possible to have the segmental portion of the sector formed of a portion of a singlecircle, I have found it preferable to give it a form corresponding to segments of two circleshaving different centers. As, for instance, the portion. from 1 to? is formed of a segmenthaving the point 3 for a center,

"while the portion from 1 to 4 is formed of a segment having the point 5 for a center, and

sustained by gravity; or, if preferred, a

spring d may be: connected to each: sector tonormally hold. it in position against the bar or plate'G,'andthe faceof this plate may be, covered. with some: protecting-surface: g t0 act as a cushion: for the sectors. The insulating -piece d alsonormally extends over the contact-bar, comb, or plate K, and

when the key-lever is depressed: the said insulating-piece: comes in contact witlr the roller and conducting plate orxcomb', and

then asthe movementof the roller istransmitted. to the sector the segmentali port-ion front 1 tot iszdrawn over the conductingplate at a uniform speed, and the circuit is uniformly opened and closed in accordance with thenuinberof insulatingandconductingportions on the sector. In view of the fact thatthe portion of the sector from. 1 to t ison adifferent'circle from the portion 1' 1:02, the operator is enabled; While still holding one keydown during: the act of transmittingthe signal, to start. a' succeeding key on its way toward the roller H, for this latter key presents-to the roller before absolute contact the portion of the circle from: 1 to2, While the key actually in contact and inoperation presents that'portion from 1* to 4, or a" diiferent circleor are.

This-is for the purposeof en ablingthe operator to closely join or group theseveralicombin ations of letters into words.

sometimes however, I have found it preferable, to form the segment'ofthe sector on a single, curve; having. a center at its pivotal point, asrepresented in Fig; 4.

In orderto-overcome the necessity of holdin g the lever throughout the transmission of thefull signal, some locking; means may be provided: that will secure the: lever in position untilthesignalv is sent,.and I have indicated in Fig. 4 a primitive arrangement whereby this may be accomplished, and while this has been found to be operative I have other and what I consider better means-of accomplishing the same result, which are not specifically described herein. In this case Mindicates a bar extending beneath the series of key-levers, and each lever is provided with a pendent pawl N, which will automatically engage with the bar M when the lever is depressed and hold the lever in this position until it is released. In order that this pawl shall be released as soon as the signal is completed, I provide the sector with an extension O, which as soon as the signal is complete shall impinge upon the upper portion of the pawl N and force it from engagement with the rod M and allow the lever to assume its normal position. In this arrangement it is only necessary that the operator shall strike the desired key for an instant and cause it to be depressed,when it becomes locked and remains so until it is automatically released at the conclusion of the signal, and then the next successive key may be struck the same Way and the same operation repeated.

From the above description of the construction and arrangement of-the parts the operation will be readily understood and need'not be specifically set forth in detail, and it will be observed that as the keys are depressed in succession each sector is brought into engagement with the constantly-rotating roller H and with the conducting-bar K, and the roller then propels the sector, so that its periphery passes over the conducting plate or comb and produces the desired signal, with its makes and breaks or variations in the circuit properly spaced and at a uniform speed, which will cause the corresponding record at the receiving-instrument to be accurate and clear, regardless of the technical skill of the trans mitting-operator.

Of course the speed with which the signals may be transmitted will depend upon the electrical conditions present and upon the ability of the transmitting-operator to manipulate the keys and the ability of the receiving-operator to understand or interpret the signals and transcribe the same. speed can be controlled at the will of the transmitting-operator by suitable mechanism to regulate the speed of the roller-H.

While I have thus described one embodiment of my invention, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that I am not limited to the precise construction and arrangement tion of a nonconducting feed-roller rotating. at a uniform rate of speed, a conducting plate or comb arranged ad acent to said roller, a series of sectors having conducting and This non-conducting spaces arranged out of contact with the feed-roller, and a series of keylevers for bringing the sectors into contact with the said roller, substantially as described.

2. In atelegraph-transmitter, the combination of a non-conducting feed-roller rotating at a uniform rate of speed, a conducting plate or comb arranged adjacent to said roller, a series of key-levers, and a series of sectors pivotally connected to said levers and arranged to-be brought in contact with said non-conducting feed-roller and conductingplate, substantially as described.

3. In a telegraph-transmitter,the combination, with a non-conducting feed-roller rotating at a constant speed, of a conducting plate or comb arranged adjacent to the roller and connected with one terminal of the circuit, a series of key-levers, and a series of sectors pivotally connected to the key-1evers'arranged out of contact with the feed-roller and connected to the other terminal of the circuit, substantially as described.

4. In atelegraph-transmitter, the combination, wit-h a roller rotating at a uniform speed, of a series of levers and a series of sectors connected to said levers, the periphery of each sector being composed of two separate circles, substantially as described.

5. In a telegraph-transmitter, a series of sectors, the peripheries of each sector being composed of two separate circles and provided with insulated portions, one portion, as cl, of each sector being arranged in the same relative position to each other upon the part of the periphery corresponding to one circle, and the other portions, as d, arranged in ac- -cordance with the various signals to be trans- .plate arranged adjacent to the roller, each sector being provided with an insulating section in its periphery arranged to contact with the conducting-plate when the lever is depressed, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

ORVILLE D. LA Dow.

Witnesses:

W. D. QUINTER, WM. K. ELLIS. 

